Navy vet says waterboarding scarred him for life

[LaStrega]

Navy vet says waterboarding scarred him for life
The technique, decried by some as torture, was used on Arthur McCants in training; he is seeking disability benefits.

By George Werneth, Newhouse News Service

Arthur McCants has drowned many times in his dreams, by his account.

The lanky 60-year-old said he is haunted by "waterboarding" -- an experience some decry as torture -- that he endured in Navy survival training more than 30 years ago.

Now, he and his sister accuse the Veterans Administration of ducking its obligation to provide him with disability help.

full article: http://www.startribune.com/12261326.html

[pop goes the weasel]

1. "some" decry it as torture?

It is torture, and it is forbidden by our Constitution as a cruel punishment. It also "simulates" drowning exactly like knifing "simulates" stabbing. It is the thing itself.

[Occam Bandage]

2. Wonder what went wrong with him. Waterboarding is part of standard survival training.

The torture is not the physical pain. The torture is the emotional terror of being led to believe you are drowning. Thousands of recruits are waterboarded every year without problem. I have to wonder what went wrong with his case that he was scarred.

Maybe he had a particularly cruel administrator. Maybe he was predisposed to emotional trauma. Maybe it was a strange confluence of events. Oh well.

Either way, I'd have to think his exceptional reaction would be the expected reaction for any detainee who undergoes the practive.

[LaStrega]

3. Wow. I had no idea.

So I Googled "survival training"+waterboarding and found this:

http://www.theraaymakers.net/TheRaaymakersBlogs/tabid/88/EntryID/36/Default.aspx

"While I was not waterboarded, some of my classmates were and they described the experience as something they will never forget."